Basic Electronics - Part 2

Electronic Components
Electronic(s) means literally: working with/on Electrons
To understand the behaviour of electrons (and thus electronics!) we need to differentiate three important concepts:
Electric Charge is simply the amount of electrons involved.
As we describe an amount of water in terms of litres, and not as the number of molecules involved, likewise electric charge is
measured in Coulomb (C). 1 Coulomb contains 6.022 ! 10
23
electrons.
Analogous to the amount of charge is the amount of water. (1 l of water contains 55.55 x 6.022 ! 10
23
molecules!)
Understanding Electricity
To most people, electricity is a very abstract phenomenon. Difficult to visualise and hence difficult to imagine. In this document, i'll
try to make it more cocrete by drawing many analogies between the flow of electicity and the flow of water. The latter is, after all,
totally familiar and intuitively understood by anyone.
Electric Current is the movement of an electric charge
Anytime electrons move, this is called current. Current is measured in Ampere (A) which is defined as Coulombs per second
[ 1A = 1C / s ]. So; when 1C of electrons flow through a wire in 1 sec, the wire carries a current of 1 A.
The maximum current a circuit can handle is determined (among other things) by the thickness of the wires.
With water, the 'current' is the amount of water moving per unit of time. Flow of water is usually measured in litres per minute.
Electric Field or Potential is the amount of Energy converted or transferred by the electrons moving.
Like water flowing downhill under the influence of gravity, electrons will flow in the presence of an electric field (or by means of
certain chemical reactions..). The electrons themselves are negative particles, and so are repelled by the negative pole of the
field, and attracted by the positive pole of the field.
In an electric field, electrons will flow from - to +.
Potential is measured in Volts (V). When 1C loses 1V of potential, 1 Joule of energy is released.
Equivalent to the Potential (or voltage) is the pressure of the water in the pipe at a given point.
Because electricity and the important relationships between Field, Charge and Current (and similar relations to Magnetic Fields & co..)
were discovered long before the electrons, a very unfortunate discrepancy has come into existence because of the negativity of
electrons.
Electric current is defined as flowing from + to -
Electric current is flowing in the opposite direction as the electrons causing the current in the first place!
The Battery
Without external connections to the battery an electric field will build up, because of the difference in charge between the + pole
(few electrons) and the - pole (many electrons). This electric field will make electrons want move from the - to the +, so in the
opposite direction as the chemical reaction! When the field-potential reaches a certain voltage, the chemical reaction will stop,
but the electric field will persist, holding a constant voltage between the battery poles.
The real power of the battery comes in when an external connection is made between the poles. Then suddenly electrons can
flow from - to + (creating a current from + to -!), outside the battery, without having to face the opposing force of the chemical
reaction inside the battery. In fact, as electrons 'escape' along a path external to the battery, the chemical reaction immediately
starts up again and starts pushing electrons around inside the battery.
In terms of water-flow, think of a pump using physical force to create a pressure difference between it's inlet & outlet.
Or the heat of the sun evaporating water from a lake (lowest potential) into clouds (very high potential) from where it can fall
down as rain, running ever downhill until it finds another lake or sea...
Electronic Components
+ - + -
or
The Battery is a source of electricity. A chemical reaction inside the battery absorbs electrons at the
+ pole, and delivers electrons to the - pole.
Resistors
Resistors (R) offer resistance to electric current
Electrons flowing through a resistor will lose a little bit of their energy, which results in a potential-
difference (= electric field) across the resistor, opposite in direction to the flow of current. This field
will 'push back' at the electrons flowing through.
The electric energy 'lost' in the resistor will be released as heat.
The Resistance of a resistor is measured in Ohm (!). Ohm's Law describes the
relation between current, resistance and potential:
A * ! = V or V / ! = A
When 1 mA flows through a 3.3k! resistor, there will be 3.3V across it.
With 6V across a 120! resistor, a 50mA current will flow through it.
A resistor is like a pipe with a kink in it; the kink makes it more difficult for the water
to flow through, so the pressure before the kink will be higher than after the kink.
The amount of water flowing through (the current) is the same before & after the
kink, of course!
or
or
Fixed resistor
Variable resistor
Higher pressure Lower pressure
A Diode (D) lets current flow through in only one direction. (Hence the arrow in
the symbol).
One leg of the diode is marked, usually with a fat black or white line. The
marked leg is the 'cathode', where current can flow out of, but not into. (ie. the -
end) The other leg (where the current can flow into the diode, the + end) is
called the 'anode'
Diodes
A Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lets current flow through in only one direction, and
emits light when current is flowing.
LED's sometimes have the cathode (the -) marked with a flattened edge, and
usually have the anode (the +) leg being longer than the cathode leg.
A Zener-Diode (ZD) lets current flow through in one direction, but also in the
other direction if the voltage is above a certain threshold This threshold is called
the zener-voltage, and it is constant for a given diode. Zener-Diodes are useful
in voltage-regulation applications.
The Diode acts like a pipe with a one-way valve; in one direction the pressure will push the valve open and current can flow.
In the other direction, the pressure will push the valve closed.
a c
a c
a c
Capacitors
Capacitors are storage vessels for electric charge.
When current flows into a capacitor the voltage across it will rise over time.
When a voltage is applied to a capacitor, there will be a peak-current initially, then the
current will decrease over time.
Regular Capacitor
Electrolytic (or Polarized) Capacitor
+
The Capacitance of a capacitor dictates how much energy can be stored, and is measured in Farad (F).
A steady current of 1mA will make the voltage across a 1"F capacitor rise with 1V per msec (= 1kV / sec).
Variable Capacitor
Imagine a closed tank or barrel, already filled with water, with a pipe at either end and a rubber membrane stretched across the middle;
The pressure of the water flowing into one half of the barrel will at first stretch the membrane and push water out the other end.
Note that it is different water being pushed out, the two halves of the barrel are not actually connected! But the amount of water (ie. the
electric charge) flowing into the barrel is the same as what flows out, so we can simplify things (at least linguistically) by saying water
(curent) flows through the barrel (capacitor), even though this is not literally what happens.
The stretching of the membrane increases the pressure in the 'input' half of the barrel, until it is equal to the pressure in the pipe.
At this point, the pressure on the 'output' side will be zero, and the flow stops. If the pressure on the input then drops, the membrane will
spring back into its unstretched state, and water (current) will flow in the opposite direction during this 'discharge'.
If the voltage across a capacitor gets too high, it
will break, exactly like the membrane in the
barrel would if the pressure gets too high.
Inductors
An Inductor (or coil) is simply a wire wound into a coil, usually around some iron or ferrite core.
Inductors also store electric energy, but unlike capacitors it's not stored as an electric charge, but
as a magnetic field!. Inductors convert electric energy to magnetic energy, and back again.
Inductors behave like the mirror-image of Capacitors:
When a voltage is applied to an inductor the current through it will rise over time.
When current flows through an inductor, there will be a peak-voltage initially, then the voltage
will decrease over time.
When current stops flowing through an inductor, there will be a peak-voltage decreasing over
time, with opposite polarity to the original current.
Think of a water-pipe with a heavy impellor-wheel inside;
At first, the inertia of the wheel will resist the water flowing in, making the pressure in the pipe rise.
The pressure persists, and the wheel will start turning, allowing more & more water to flow through.
When the wheel is up to speed, and the pressure drops, the wheel 'wants to keep going' and will suck water into the intake-pipe!
(suction is negative pressure, ie, a 'voltage' of opposite polarity to the original pressure that started the wheel turning.)
The direction of flow (current) will be the same as the original (charging) flow during this 'discharge'
Air coil
Coil with magnetic core
Transformer
The Inductance of an inductor describes how much energy can be stored, and is measured in
Henry (H). 1V applied to a 1mH inductor will make the current rise with 1A / msec.
Transistors (in various flavours)
Transistors (short for 'Transfer Resistors') appear in different types or 'families' (see next page)
and each family comes in 2 polarities.
These work as current-controlled resistors. The three terminals are;
'e' (for 'Emitter'), is the common terminal. 'b' (for 'Base'), is the controlling terminal. 'c' (for 'Collector'), is the controlled terminal.
Inside the transistor, the path between b and e works like a diode, so current can only flow one way.
In NPN-transistors, it can flow from b to e, in PNP-transistors from e to b. (See the arrows in the symbols!).
The presence of a small current along this path (the controlling current) allows for a much larger current (the controlled current) to flow
along the controlled path; from c to e in NPN-transistors and from e to c in PNP-transistors.
So, in a way, the resistance between the c & e terminals is controlled by the current flowing into (NPN) or out of (PNP) the b terminal.
In water-world, this might be constructed as follows;
A large pipe (the controlled path) has a shutter inside, which can be raised by the turning of an impellor-wheel.
The water needed to turn the wheel flows through a smaller pipe (the controlling path). The water in the controlling pipe has to
keep flowing, to keep the wheel turning, or else the shutter will close. More water flowing through the controlling pipe will raise the
shutter more. This way, the controlling flow controls the resistance of the controlled pipe.
Regular Transistors (a.k.a 'Bi-junction' or 'Bipolar' Transistors
b
e
c
b
e
c
NPN PNP
b
c
e
b
c
e
NPN PNP
Like resistors, transistors convert the 'lost' electric energy to heat. The material of which transistors are made (Silicon, usually) is very
sensitive to overheating. Temperatures over 70C may already be fatal. Transistors designed to handle serious currents have a metal
mounting-base which must be attached to a heat-sink (a large metal surface, designed to dissipate heat)
Field-Effect Transistors (FET's)
N-Channel P-Channel
g
s
d
g
s
d
g
s
d
g
s
d
These work as voltage-controlled resistors. The three terminals here are a bit more sensibly named;
's' (for 'Source'), is the common terminal. 'g' (for 'Gate'), is the controlling terminal. 'd' (for 'Drain'), is the controlled terminal.
Inside the FET, the path between g and s works like a (small) capacitor; current will only briefly flow into or out of the gate, raising or
lowering the gate-voltage. N-channel FET's are controlled by a positive voltage, P-channel FET's by a negative voltage.
The presence of a small voltage on the gate (the controlling voltage) allows for a large current (the controlled current) to flow along the
controlled path; from d to s in N-channel FET's and from s to d in P-channel FET's.
So, in a way, the resistance between the d & s terminals is controlled by the voltage on the g terminal.
Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFET's)
N-Channel P-Channel
MOSFET's are a slightly more modern version of FET's and most of theme are designed to handle very large currents.
They function exactly like regular FET's.
The Water-equivalent is very similar to the Transistor model, except here we have the shutter controlled by a balloon or bellows.
So, in this case, the pressure in the controlling pipe controls the raising & lowering of the shutter.
g
d
s
g
d
s
N-Channel
P-Channel
This document is part of a Beginners Course in Basic Electronics.
download the other papers from:
Stock
V2_Lab, Rotterdam, 2005
http://stomach.v2.nl/projects/Basic_Electronics/